Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran -- in his much-awaited annual policy statement -- said new hardline President Mahinda Rajapakse should put forward a "reasonable political framework" before year's end.

"This is our urgent and final appeal," Prabhakaran said in a speech broadcast over the rebel Voice of Tigers radio.

"If the new government rejects our urgent appeal, we will, next year... intensify our struggle for self-determination, our struggle for national liberation to establish self-government in our homeland."

Prabhakaran said his Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which have lost nearly 18,000 fighters in a separatist campaign since 1972, would intensify a campaign for independence unless Colombo agrees to their demand.

"Our people have lost patience, hope and reached the brink of utter frustration," Prabhakaran said in the speech, which concluded ceremonies honoring the Tiger "heroes" who died while battling government forces.

"They are not prepared to be tolerant any longer. The new government should come forward soon with a reasonable political framework that will satisfy the political aspirations of the Tamil people."

Prabhakaran made no direct offer of peace talks in response to a call by Rajapakse who, in his first address to parliament on Friday, asked the guerrillas to enter talks under a brand new peace process.

"This new government is extending its hand of friendship towards us and is calling our organisation for peace talks," he said. "It claims that it is going to adopt a new approach towards the peace process."

"Having carefully examined his policy statement in depth, we have come to a conclusion that President Rajapakse has not grasped the fundamentals, the basic concepts underlying the Tamil national question," he added.

The rebel leader said Norwegian-backed peace efforts had failed to address the grievances of minority Tamils living in the South Asian island nation's embattled northern and eastern regions, much of which are under Tiger control.

"The past four years of the peace process have miserably failed to address the most urgent humanitarian needs faced by hundreds of thousands of Tamil refugees displaced by war and by the recent tsunami, giving rise to hopelessness and disillusionment among our people," he said.

Prabhakaran said the distance between "him (the president) and us is vast" but said the rebels were willing to wait for Rajapakse's next move before talking decisive action "next year".

More than 60,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka's drawn-out separatist conflict. Four previous peace attempts ended in failure and led to more bloodshed.

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